It began with Christmas
by The Alloy of Silver and Gold
Summary: when an old enemy resurfaces and thought-dead friend arises, k unit and ben take over alex's house for his protection. they leave. and THEN scorpia attacks. oh dear.  Ignores Scorpia Rising. first in Cheetah Twins trilogy. undergoing a mild revamp.
1. Chapter 1

It was dangerously close to Christmas. Everybody was rushing about London, doing last-minute present shopping. A blond boy with jaded brown eyes strolled down Liverpool Street. He looked completely natural. Passing him, you wouldn't have spared a second glance. You wouldn't have time to. As he disappeared through the entrance of the Royal and General bank, the ordinary pedestrian would have no idea that at that very moment, hidden cameras were focusing, zooming in, searching the security files for a match. The match was found. The computer focused on the binary code that spelled out the boy's clearance to carry a weapon.

Alex Rider stepped up to the front desk. He said in an undertone, "Special agent Rider, code 422331." The receptionist nodded and pressed a button on the underside of the desk. The button operated the staff elevator. Alex stepped in and the elevator automatically took him to the fifteenth floor. He found the door he wanted; the one marked 'Alan Blunt'. Without knocking, he strode in and threw himself down on the chair in front of the desk, composure forgotten, obviously in a dark mood.

"You wanted me?" he snapped.  
>"I did," Alan Blunt replied. Alex, for the umpteenth time in his life, was awestruck by how impossibly <em>grey<em> this man was. Then again, he was a spymaster. It came with the job.  
>"We believe Scorpia will launch an attack on you," said Blunt, not bothering with pleasantries. "And this time, they've joined up with another of your enemies,"<br>"Oh, yeah? Which one?" sighed Alex wearily, not wanting to remember his numerous enemies, compared to his miniscule amount of allies. What Blunt said next, however, completely knocked the wind out of his sails.  
>"Julius Grief."<p>

It was a mark of how skillful Alex was at hiding his emotions that he didn't show how shocked he was. Carefully keeping his voice level, he asked, "He was killed. There was a fire and I saw him dead."  
>"You <em>thought<em> he was dead," said Blunt maddeningly. "Which brings me to a related subject. Yassen Gregorovich is alive."

An hour later, in which Alex had started swearing at Blunt in a variety of languages, the boy stalked off to the place he knew as Smithers' office. _The only people in MI6 I can trust,_ thought Alex,_ are Mr. Smithers and Ben Daniels_. It was true, too. Everybody else thought of him solely as a weapon. Alex knocked on the door, which slid smoothly open exactly 3.8 milliseconds later. ("_Exactly_ 3.8," Smithers had said proudly. "Timed it myself.") Looking to the room within, Alex saw three men, all three familiar, one painfully so. Smithers himself was behind the desk, his huge belly pressing against the edge. Ben Daniels, previously known as Fox, was a recent transfer from the SAS. During their mission with the snakehead, Alex had learned to see him as an older brother. The last, as you have probably guessed, was Yassen Gregorovich. The familiar blue eyes gazed at Alex emotionlessly. Alex ignored him. "Hello, Mr Smithers," he said, smiling. "What ingenious mechanisms have you thought up for me today?"  
>"Well, Alex," boomed Smithers. "I must say, with the impending attack on your life by Scorpia, and it being so near to Christmas, I've had great fun with these," this speech was accompanied by a wicked grin. "I've got one here," he said, bringing out a box of miniature Christmas tree baubles. "Grenades. They're perfectly safe when you've got them on your tree, but if you press the bottom, here," he flipped one over, exposing a small, round, virtually undetectable button. "Gives you a five second fuse. I hope you don't have a cat?"<br>"I don't."  
>"Then it won't be a problem. Cats and hanging explosives don't mix." The gadget master gave a theatric shudder. "And this is my second one," he said, producing a roll of fancily decorated present ribbon. "This looks like ordinary ribbon, but tie a strong knot around something, and <em>voila<em>, virtually indestructible climbing rope! Handy if you want to make a quick getaway. Also very good for tying people up with." Smithers chuckled. "And that brings me to the third and final – my personal favorite, miniature technology." He pulled out a fine silver chain, with a multitude of charms hanging from it. "I know boys your age don't normally wear jewellery," he explained, "but I've noticed the attachment you seem to have with your wood bead necklace. Anyway, I don't think I've made this too girly. See, this charm – "he pointed at a spherical charm – "emits a powerful knockout gas when separated from the chain. It has a five second fuse – they all do – and everyone in a room will be knocked out for up to twelve hours. This one," he said, pointing at a triangular charm, "is a mild explosive. Perfect for small things, like blowing apart a lock. This square one is another explosive, though more powerful than the triangle. It'll blow a door off its hinges. This pentagon is a much more powerful one. It'll blow apart a room, or blast a sizeable crater in cement, metal, any hard material you would care to mention. And this last one, the cube, is a powerful magnet. If you're in a locked cell, it'll destroy the lock with ease. And, don't mention this to Blunt," said Smithers, looking suddenly guilty, "I don't think he'll approve." He handed Alex a small, slim gun. "It's made of toughened plastic, like that concealed knife I gave to you a while ago. It'll fire normal bullets, but I've already got a full magazine of plastic ones in there. If you go through a metal detector, nothing will show up. I can trust you to keep the secret?" he asked the other two. Alex started; he'd forgotten they were there. "Sure," said Ben with a grin. "Blunt won't hear about this." Yassen gave a nod. Smithers gave a wide smile. "Good-o, then," he said cheerfully. "Merry Christmas, Alex!"  
>"You too, Mr. Smithers."<p>

"So, 'Lex," said Ben a few minutes later, behind the wheel of the MI6 issue vehicle. "Me and Yassen and K unit will be spending Christmas as bodyguards?"  
>"No. Guests. I don't need bodyguards."<br>"Oh, Alex, I'm flattered." Alex turned his attention on Yassen.  
>"How did you survive Air Force One?" The Russian gave a wry smile.<br>"Straight to the point, little Alex?"  
>"Don't call me little."<br>"Why? It suits you."  
>In the driver's seat, Ben was shocked at the familiarity with which the two spoke to each other. Had he not had his eyes on the road, he would have turned around to question them thoroughly. Alex sensed this, and to put Ben off, switched to Russian, which he had begun to learn since Air Force One.<br>"_So how did you survive the bullet?"  
>"I was wearing a bulletproof vest, much like your jersey. It had fake blood packets on it, primed to burst at any physically impairing blow. I was hoping you would forget about me, as I had only brought misery to your life. MI6 didn't give me that option," <em>said Yassen bitterly.

By now Ben was completely infuriated. To break up their conversation, he said, "So we drop by at the start of the Christmas holidays?"  
>"Yeah. Oh, and just to tell you, my friend Tom's staying for Christmas. His parents can't stay in the same house without trying to kill each other, so I'm his escape. He knows about the MI6 stuff."<br>"Oo-kay. Does Blunt know about it?"  
>"Nope."<br>"Then I won't tell him." Alex cast him a grateful glance.  
>"Thanks, Ben."<br>By now, the car had pulled up in the driveway of Alex's Chelsea mansion. Alex got out of the car, nodded at them both, and sashayed away.

When an assemblage of SAS, MI6 and one particular assassin showed up on Alex's doorstep on the first day of the Christmas holidays, their first greeting was a mix of warm air, rock music, and the tantalizing smell of baking cookies. The red-haired woman Alex had called Jack was standing in the doorway, eyebrow cocked. "So this is what an SAS unit looks like," she mused. "I thought you'd be buffer."  
>Wolf spluttered with outrage. Yassen was trying to suppress a smile with difficulty.<br>"Well, come in!" said Jack. As the men entered, they realized another voice was mixed in with the rock coming from the kitchen.  
><em>"So give me reason, to prove me wrong, to wash this memory clean. Let the floods cross, the distance in your eyes…!" <em>turning into the kitchen, they saw the slim, blond figure at the counter, apparently singing along with the radio tuned onto a rock channel. A shorter, spiky, black haired boy sat at the table, inhaling batch after batch of chocolate chip. He raised his head and cocked an eyebrow as Jack had. "So this is an SAS unit," he said. "I thought you'd be buffer." Ben was now in near hysterics and Wolf looked ready to kill.  
>As the every hyperactive Eagle dived for the warm chocolate chips, Alex turned around and switched off the radio. "So, boys. What will our first act of destruction be?" He asked with an evil smirk. "Now, hold it there," tutted Jack. "Let's set some ground rules. You are not to blow anything up. You are not to open the weapon vault. And you are NOT to crush anyone with a hot air balloon!"<br>K unit stared at Alex.  
>"<em>Weapon vault?"<br>"Hot air balloon?"_  
>"What the BLOODY HELL have you been DOING, CUB?" screeched Wolf.<br>"No time for that," said Tom, shoving them all to the door. "Jack, can you look after the cookie dough? Alexandra here is going to tell us every detail of his missions!" Without waiting for an answer, he pulled a valiantly resisting Alex to the living room, K unit, Ben and Yassen trailing behind.

When they had squeezed as much information as they were going to out of Alex, scarfed down so many cookies they were all starting to feel sick, and gotten a tour of the house, Jack plopped down on the sofa and turned on the news. "I'm too exhausted to do anything else," she mumbled theatrically. "Alex? Would you do me the honor of –"  
>"On it."<br>Alex made for the kitchen. As he slid the door shut, he distinctly heard Tom say, "The famous Rider fusilli. Life is good."

It was the undoubtedly the most chaotic Christmas Alex had ever had. Wolf combed the house several times in search of the weapon vault. He did find it, but only because he knew what to look for. And even then, it gave him an electric shock because the fingerprint read on the scanner wasn't Alex's. Snake fussed at the limited state of the medicine closet. Ben and Yassen played big brothers. And Eagle teamed up with Tom and made everybody double-bolt their doors at night.

Christmas night found Alex flapping back and forth between the living room and the kitchen, halfway between tying down Eagle and rescuing the kitchen from Yassen. "Eagle, that's not – NOT WITH A FLAMETHROWER, YASSEN!"  
>It was a horrifying predicament.<p>

**Oh no! how will alex get out of his horrifying predicament? hope this first ficEVER tickles your fancy! PLEASE go to my profile page and do the poll. AND REVIEW! i never understood why authors crave reviews so much. now i do.**

**Edited 23/5/12**


	2. Chapter 2

**HEY. thanks to my first 3 reviewers! you made my day. just to tell you this is post-series, ignores Scorpia Rising.  
>i forgot to say in summary<strong>

Yassen had volunteered to cook. Having slowly and methodically worked out the stove, he'd made everything to perfection. However, he'd started burning the sugar on the pudding with a flamethrower instead of a lighter. Alex rushed to beat out the flames, which had spread to the ceiling. "What do you think you're DOING?"  
>"Burning the top of a Christmas pudding."<br>"You're meant to do it with a _lighter_, Yassen."  
>"A flamethrower <em>is<em> a lighter. Just a bigger one. "  
>"A <em>bigger one? <em>Yassen, you destroyed the kitchen!"  
>"Assassin, Alex. What did you expect?" Alex rolled his eyes and went to call the interior design company, taking the flamethrower with him.<p>

Eagle was struggling to escape the present ribbon binding him. "Sugar! I smell burnt sugar! Alex, what are you keeping from me?" Alex gagged him. He glared at the rest of K unit, Ben and Tom, who were watching with amusement. "You _could_ help me, you know."  
>"But Alex," said Tom lazily. "We don't want to."<br>"You'd better watch out," hissed Alex. "Because I really DO want to do this!" He hefted the flamethrower and chased the others all over the house.  
>And in the middle of it all, the doorbell rang.<p>

"Ohh," moaned Alex. "Carol singers. Wolf, go scare them off, I'm not in the mood." Wolf opened the door. The carol singers scattered in terror. And unhelpfully, over half were from Alex's school.  
>"<em>That's Rider's house."<br>"Druggie Rider?"  
>"How many Riders do we know?"<br>"What was that guy doing at his house?"  
>"He was probably from the army come to arrest him, you saw how buff he was?"<em>  
>This information was added to the many rumors circling the teenage spy.<p>

When Jack got back from the mall, Alex had K unit, Tom and Ben re-wallpapering the kitchen. Yassen was rubbing scorch marks from the ceiling. Jack being Jack, she just rolled her eyes, set the groceries down and went to watch TV.


	3. Chapter 3

On Christmas day, Alex woke to a fresh snowfall and a packed tight under-tree space. Typical. He padded downstairs and discovered he was the first up. He decided to make breakfast. If nothing else, he had first pick of what to make. Alex pulled together pancake ingredients, and by the time K unit, Ben, Tom and Yassen were up, they woke to the smell of hot blueberries. Eagle almost floated to the table.  
>"Set the table, Ben, or you get none," said Alex. Ben scowled.<p>

Yassen sat down by the tree with his pancake plate in his lap. He fingered one of the explosive baubles. "You know, Smithers really is a genius. If I didn't know better, I'd swear these were normal ones."  
>"Didn't you know that already?" Ben asked from the table.<br>"I'm new to MI6, I've got an excuse."  
>"That reminds me," said Alex. "How did MI6 pick you up anyway?"<br>"After the Damian Cray fiasco, I was taken to hospital. The Kevlar vest protected me from the worst of the bullet, but there were a couple of broken ribs. Anyway, I was comatose most of the time, but when I did regain consciousness, MI6 had captured me and gave me two options: protect you or die. Dying was rather unappealing."  
>"And then he worked with me for a couple of months," piped up Ben from his chair. "I really didn't like him at first, but then we went through the black box in the Air Force One plane. I heard your conversation and decided to trust him."<br>"And so you met," said Tom sarcastically. "When are you announcing your engagement?"  
>Three Death Glare Premiums were sent his way.<p>

Without warning, Celine Dion* boomed through the house. Right on cue, Jack made her grand entrance.  
>"Why the music, Jack?" moaned Alex. "You know I don't like Celine Dion!"<br>"I like it!" said Jack indignantly. "While I'm paying the taxes, it's my house and I can do what I want! Besides, Tom's enjoying it." She sat down and started plowing through an untouched plate of pancakes as Tom sang along to _My Heart will Go On_.

When Jack had finished and the others had persuaded her to turn down the music a_ little_, they got down to present opening. The full list of the presents would fill a book, so to make it simpler let's just say everybody was extremely satisfied.

An hour later, Jack came down dressed in coat, boots, and the cartwheel hat Alex had given her.  
>"Where are you off to?" inquired Alex.<br>"Out with my friend Hanna," Jack's voice was muffled by her scarf. "I told her I'd take her for hot chocolate today; she broke up with her boyfriend last week and needs someone around a lot."  
>"You need somebody to go with you?" asked Snake. "I mean, that is what we're here for."<br>"No thank you. This is girl stuff. And anyway, how long have I been doing this?" Jack marched through the door. Everyone in the room twisted to stare at Snake. "Infatuated much?" quipped Tom.  
>"No!" protested Snake indignantly. "I mean, we ARE here as bodyguards, aren't we?"<br>"Yep, you're in love."  
>Before Snake could retort, there was a scream from outside. Alex was the first to the door. Jack was frozen in the front yard. There was a human body on the pavement, just beyond the gate. It was obviously very, very dead.<p>

**Does this count as a cliffie? I'll try to get next chapter up SOON AS POSSIBLE. And I have to apologize for the shortness of chapter 2. I was doing that on the bus to school. There wasn't much time but I couldn't wait! I was getting antsy.  
>*No offence to Celine Dion. Jack likes her. Alex doesn't.<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

The body was of a young woman, early twenties, shoulder length brown hair fanned out across the pavement, her neck snapped, wearing a tight black jumpsuit. There was a small silver scorpion pinned to the collar of the jumpsuit. Scorpia. "Yass, call the police," murmured Alex. "It'll look weird if we don't." He went to bring Jack back in. Passersby were screaming. Somewhere in the distance, sirens were wailing. Suddenly police cars were there. An ambulance. The body was loaded into the back. Alex, Jack, Tom and the others were pulled into the police cars.

Two hours later. In the police station. The very same one, in fact, that Alex had demolished the conference center of with a crane and a barge. Alex had just made a phone call to the Royal and General. "Well," asked the police officer in charge of interrogations. "You done?"  
>"Run my name through the computer," said Alex.<br>"OK – what?"  
>"You heard me."<br>The bemused officer passed on the command. There were mutterings from the open door,  
>"<em>MI6? He's just a kid!"<br>"Level 12 clearance…"  
>"Scorpia…"<br>_The interrogator, now looking pale and a little shaky, returned. "Alex Rider?"  
>Alex nodded.<br>"Um… you're free to go."  
>"And my friends?"<br>"Them too. "  
>Alex turned and was about to go when he had a thought. He turned back around. "I want to see the body."<br>"What?"  
>"The body. I want to see it."<br>"Um, OK…" The man now looked a little queasy. He brought Alex down a few corridors and handed him over to a woman in a lab coat, who regarded him suspiciously. A whispered conversation was held. The officer walked away and the woman ushered him in.  
>The body lay prostrate, still wearing the jumpsuit. Her brown hair was laid out across the table. Her blue eyes stared up at the ceiling. Alex suddenly felt sick. He knew who she was. Tamara Knight.<p>

Recognition is one of the hardest emotions to conceal. A vague shadow of it flickered across Alex's face. The woman in the lab coat saw it. "You knew her?" Alex shot her a look that would have pierced steel. He reached out and touched Tamara's cheekbone. Her head lolled sideways and the broken bones in her neck creaked. Alex straightened the collar of the jumpsuit and unpinned the silver scorpion. He turned and left.

The interrogator had led the others out of different rooms and when Alex walked back into the room he was in they were all sitting around the small table. "It's a good thing you're MI6, Alex," said Tom quietly. "You spirited us out of there in less time than I thought it would take." Yassen was scanning his face.  
>"What's wrong?"<br>"I saw the body. I knew who she was."  
>They all expressed surprise.<br>"Who?"  
>"Ben, you've probably heard of the Ark Angel incident, haven't you?"<br>"You mean the one where you went into sp – "  
>"<em>Shhh<em>! I'll tell you the details later. Anyway, she was with the CIA. She must have died when the security system detected her. I don't know how Scorpia recruited her, but I've got to tell Blunt. And Joe Byrne," he added as an afterthought. "Either way, let's get home. I have a whole load of phone calls to make. Worse, the Christmas holidays have ended. There's school tomorrow."

**So what do you think? I thought I'd really get the story going by adding somebody who died. You know I was actually gonna make the dead person a random scorpia agent but I thought I'd add a twist. Loved it? Hated it? REVIEW!**


	5. Chapter 5

Alex was sitting down at the coffee table in the living room with a blueprint of the security system. K unit, Ben, Yassen, Tom and Jack were clustered around him. "She must have been climbing up the wall here…" muttered Alex, running his finger down the paper. "Sensors here and here detected her as she went by. They found the metal on her and when she was on the window ledge, here…" he tapped the blueprint. "It gave her a small electric shock and she fell off, broke her neck and died."  
>"But why'd she come, anyway?" asked Tom.<br>"Probably for surveillance. Maybe to take one of us out. Either way, Scorpia won't care much. They have a whole load of other agents. This was probably a test."  
>"They won't care?" Jack was horrified.<br>"Jack, this is the biggest criminal organization in the world we're talking about," said Wolf. "According to them, if you die on a mission, you don't deserve to be part of Scorpia." Alex stood up.  
>"I've got to go call Blunt and Byrne. They have to know. I'll call Byrne first. He's definitely nicer than Blunt," he said. Pulling the phone out of its cradle, he tapped in the number and waited.<br>"_Hello_?"  
>"Mr. Byrne? It's Alex. I have to tell you something important."<br>"_Alright…_"  
>"This morning, Tamara Knight's body was on the pavement in front of my house," he didn't pause to register Byrne's sharp intake of breath. "It was clear she'd broken through the security systems. She was wearing a Scorpia uniform." Alex fingered the silver scorpion still in his pocket. "I don't know how Scorpia recruited her, or if they brainwashed her or whatever. The body is in the Putney police station if you want to collect it. I don't know anything else."<br>When Byrne answered, his voice was weak but steady. "_I'll look into it. Goodbye, Alex_."  
>"Bye, Mr. Byrne." The phone clicked off. Alex dialed again. "Special agent Rider, code 422331. Put me through to Blunt." He told Blunt almost the exact same thing he had told Byrne. He put the phone back in the cradle, and turned wearily to the others. "I'd better get ready for school tomorrow. You too, Tom. I don't know about you, but I'm worn out."<p>

When Jack came into Alex's room later, he was sitting cross legged on his bed. Tom was in the bathroom. Rihanna's Russian Roulette was playing quietly. Jack sat down beside him. "I got you that CD yesterday."  
>"Yep. I like it. There's always at least one moment in my missions when I feel like that."<br>"Were you close to her? Tamara Knight, I mean."  
>"Not really," Alex blew out a long breath. "She was my friend. She was pretending to be Nikolei Drevin's secretary. She was one of the only people I had on my side. I don't know how she got sucked into Scorpia. It's something I intend to find out."<p>

**I apologize for the short chapters. Its just that his is a fast-paced story. I'll try to update SOON AS I CAN. You know I did the last 4 chapters just today? I was antsy all night. Who was surprised when they found out Tamara Knight was with Scorpia? Gotta do this quick, my ******* ******** of a dad is yelling at me to practice piano. PIANO IS EVIL.**


	6. Chapter 6

Alex's alarm clock blared. He opened his eyes blearily, remembered school, and face-planted back into the pillow. He summoned the energy to pull himself out of bed and hammer on Tom's door. "Tom? School. Out now." He heard a muffled groan from within. Alex dragged himself downstairs and made cereal. Tom and the others came down in short succession. "Back to school, huh, 'Lex?" mumbled Eagle sleepily.  
>"Don't remind me."<br>"I'll drive you," yawned Yassen. "We're going today anyway."  
>"Where <em>are<em> you going? I mean where do you stay when you're off duty?"  
>"K unit and Ben all have our own homes," said Wolf. "Yassen stays at the mansion MI6 owns."<br>"Alex," said Jack. "Looked at the clock lately?"  
>Alex glanced at it and yelped. "I'm going to be late! Gotta go." He raced off, Tom trailing behind.<p>

It took Alex five minutes to get into his uniform. Tom took seven. Tossing his books and his laptop haphazardly into his bag, he threw the whole thing off the staircase and slid after it. Tom attempted the same but, being shorter, he toppled off halfway down and walked the rest of the way. They all piled into the MI6 issue car K unit, Ben and Yassen had arrived in. Yassen stomped on the gas and they were there in five minutes flat. Yassen pulled up at the school entrance and Alex and Tom jumped out. "Bye, guys," said Alex, leaning through the window. "Email me, OK?" without waiting for an answer, he and Tom rushed off to homeroom.

Their first lesson was physics. As Alex stepped into the science block, he had to repress a shudder. The explosion that had destroyed most of it still haunted him. Worse, Blunt had told him that the boy responsible – Julius Grief – had survived and was looking for revenge. Then his teacher called the class to order and thoughts of Julius were wiped from his mind. Mrs. Tsui was calling the register. When she reached Alex's name, she barely paused before moving onto the next. It was clear she didn't expect him to answer. When Alex said, "Here," she started.  
>"Oh, so you're finally back, are you?" she drawled. "What was it this time?"<br>"The Christmas holidays, Mrs. Tsui." She scowled. She'd forgotten the holidays. "Well, you've got a lot of makeup work to do," she snapped. "Sit down!"  
>Alex did not like Mrs. Tsui.<p>

Physics was one of the lessons Alex shared with Tom, which made Mrs. Tsui halfway bearable. In the middle of a gravitational experiment, a ball of paper landed on the desk beside his hand. Alex opened it.  
><em><strong>Holding up?<strong>_  
>Alex quickly scribbled a note on the back of it:<br>_**Better than I thought I would. I've forgotten how big a bitch Tsui is though.**_  
>He prepared to toss it back when a bony hand caught his wrist. "Note passing?" asked Mrs. Tsui maliciously. "Give that to me." She unfolded it and caught sight of his message. Her face turned red, making it look like a badly mixed strawberry ice cream. "Alex Rider," she snapped. "You'll be getting a – "<br>What he was getting, they never found out, because at that moment a whistling sound was heard and the entire east wall of the science block was obliterated, leaving five levels of classrooms exposed like an oversized dollhouse.

Alex felt he all-too-familiar feeling of cameras zooming in on his face. Right on cue, black jumpsuited Scorpia agents clambered in from what sounded like a helicopter flying overhead. Alex was slightly annoyed. _Why do Scorpia agents insist on dramatic entrances?_ He thought. "Alex Rider," commanded one of them. "Come with us, and no one will be harmed."  
><em>Whoever wrote the script is clearly an amateur<em>, thought Alex as he searched his pockets for a weapon. Left pocket – nothing. Stupid, stupid, stupid! Why hadn't he brought the gun? Or at least one of the gadgets? Then his fingers entered his right pocket and he found the smooth silver scorpion pin he'd taken from Tamara's body. He vaguely remembered slipping it into his pocket that morning. No time to think. Alex threw it at the nearest agent. The pin came undone in mid-flight and the needle, with the considerable weight of the metal scorpion behind it, was driven deep into the man's head. He screamed, fell to the floor, twitched a few times and lay still.  
>Everyone went wild.<br>A horde of screaming highschoolers rushed for the door. Alex snatched the dripping scorpion from the man's head and threw it again, at the same time swiftly dispatching another agent with a karate kick. Soon, all five Scorpia agents lay dead or unconscious on the floor. The chopper noises had disappeared. Alex stood in the empty classroom and dialed the Royal and General.


	7. Chapter 7

The terrified teenagers had been channeled by the more level-headed teachers into the auditorium. Police cars and ambulances were crowded around the main entrance. Sleek black vehicles with tinted windows joined them. Students were ushered away by their parents. Later that day, everybody that had been in the building when it happened were told it was a terrorist attack. All of it worried Alan Blunt and his deputy. But one thing worried them more.  
>Alex Rider had been taken.<p>

"Where do you think they've taken him?" Mrs. Jones said to Blunt.  
>"We've been asking ourselves that for a long time, Tulip."<br>"Malagosto?"  
>"No. Scorpia aren't stupid. I have a good idea of where... Assign K unit, Ben Daniels and Yassen Gregorovich." Blunt scribbled down a note and passed it to her.<br>"Again?"  
>"They're the only operatives in MI6 he trusts, Mrs. Jones. Tell the SAS sergeant we need K unit again and brief them. We'll have to move fast." Mrs. Jones left.<br>On the other side of the door, she paused to glance at the note. One word was written on the paper.  
><em>Zagreb<em>.  
>Zagreb. The capital of Croatia. Why would Alex be there? Mrs. Jones decided not to question Blunt.<br>Alex's life depended on every second they took. She summoned K unit, Ben and Yassen and sat down in her office. When they arrived, she began the briefing.

Alex Rider was stirring. He vaguely felt the sting of a hypodermic needle in his arm, taking or giving, either was a possibility. Whispering murmurs from all around made his head hurt. Alex's eyes fluttered open, just a fraction. Glass, metal, green liquid. People in lab coats, padding around the room softly. Panic flooded him. Alex began to struggle, made wilder when he felt restraints around his chest and legs. Another needle was pushed into his arm. He winced, relaxed, and knew no more.

**HEYYY  
>seventh chapter up! This is getting hard to write! This is going to get pretty twisty in the next few chapters so keep reading! And review! :P sorry for the short chapters, this just seemed like a good place to cut off.<strong>


	8. Chapter 8

Alex's eyes snapped open. He was in a cell. Nothing new about that. As Alex pulled himself to his feet, he noted that his muscles felt…different. There was something wrong. Glancing down at his body, nothing looked wrong. He was still wearing the Brookland uniform. There was a tiny bathroom off to one side. Alex entered and stared in the mirror. His face looked normal. Except…his eyes now had gold streaks running through the brown. He remembered the hypodermic needle that had been shot into his arm. Then Alex caught sight of his nails. They had turned completely white, sharp and if they had been a little longer, they would have been hooked. Alex stared. Then he stuck his hand into the wall and clawed out a huge chunk of cement.  
><em><br>_Just then, the heavy, iron door opened. Alex spun round, snapping into a combat position. A man in a black Scorpia uniform entered with a tray. Alex stared in disgust. The tray had one slab of raw meat on it. Blood was puddling around it. "There you go, kitty cat," the man in the uniform chuckled nastily. He set down the tray and left.  
>Kitty cat?<em><br>What had they done to him?_

In the same complex, Julius Grief was watching the screens from CCTV cameras in the cell. He smiled at Alex clawing the wall. He laughed out loud at Alex's expression as the Scorpia operative left. Then he caught sight of another screen. The camera from the back of the complex. Five men were climbing up the wall. The camera was strangely positioned – sat neatly in the crook of a drainage pipe – and nobody would notice it. They'd think nobody was watching, but Julius had outsmarted them. He fell into another laughing fit and ordered his men to take them in.

K unit, Ben and Yassen had entered the complex relatively easily. Their orders were to get in, get Alex, and get out. At least, that had been their original intention. Everything changed when they found the lab. The whole room was filled with a soft hum of machinery. The walls were lined with tall, cylindrical glass tanks. Each one was filled with liquid. And each one had a human body floating in it. "Wow," breathed Ben. "They had to kidnap loads of people to fill these tanks."  
>"Should we help them? Smash the tanks?" asked Eagle.<br>"Eagle, if we went and smashed the tanks, they'd know we were here. If Alex is here, great, but if he's not, we need to get out of here and find him."  
>"Guys," said Snake nervously. "You'd better get over here." The others turned and saw the tank he was pointing at. The body floating in it was Tamara Knight's.<br>"They must have stolen the body," said Wolf.  
>"No," said Yassen quietly. "Look at this." He pointed to a machine tucked in a corner, between two of the tanks. "They're all hooked up to this. It's a heart monitor. They're all alive."<p>

The lab door smashed open. What seemed like an army of Scorpia operatives spilled in. The five had no chance. Each lasted about three seconds before being hit with a dart and sedated. They were all hauled to the door, where a grinning, twisted replica of Alex was waiting.

**Cliffie! I'm evil. Anyhoo, this was hopefully a bit longer than the last chapter, which was so short I nearly died. REVIEW!**


	9. Chapter 9

Fortunately, the five men were thrown into Alex's cell. Alex himself was pacing up and down, too antsy to stay still. He looked up and they all noted the gold in his eyes. Yassen saw the chunk carved out of the wall. "Did you do that?"  
>"Yep. I don't know what they did to me, but my muscles feel strange and my nails…" he held out a hand for them to see. "That isn't the strangest thing," said Ben grimly. "We were in a lab of some sort and there were tanks, full of this green chemical. People were floating in them. Tamara Knight was one of them. And they didn't steal the body from the police station; there was a heart monitor they were all hooked up to, and they were all alive."<br>Alex paled, partly at the information, and mostly because he'd just remembered who was running this operation. "I think I've got it."  
>"What?"<br>"The body at the police station was clearly dead, yes?"  
>"Yes."<br>"But the Tamara Knight here was alive."  
>"What are you getting at, Alex?"<br>"Tamara Knight never died. The guy controlling this is a clone of a criminal I was watching on my second mission – Wolf, you'll know this one. He hates me because I killed his creator. And because they surgically altered him so he looks exactly like me, it's a lot worse than normal hate. He was a clone and I hurt him. So now," Alex took a deep breath. "He's using clones to hurt me."

"Oh, very clever, Alex." The door slid open. Julius Grief walked in, applauding slowly. He was flanked by four Scorpia agents. Alex felt rather than saw the others pale. He knew why. Julius Grief was Alex in every aspect except one. He was quite, quite insane. "I'm afraid you've found out my dastardly plan," Julius' expression was pure evil, made terrifying by the fact that it was Alex's face.  
>"You did this, didn't you?" Alex held up a hand, showing Julius his nails. "My eyes and my nails – what did you do to me?"<br>"Genetics," said Julius cheerfully. "Plain genetics. My father _was_ a scientist, you know. We bonded your DNA with that of a cheetah."  
>Alex looked murderous.<br>"Now, now, Alex," tutted Julius. "A cheetah is a fine animal. You're lucky it wasn't something like a possum. Or maybe a shrew." Here he paused. "How do you think Alex would look as a shrew?"  
>"Why?" hissed Alex. He was beyond angry. "Why?"<br>"This isn't a movie, Alex," said Julius with a teasing wave as he turned to go. "I'm not one of those dumb villains who spouts their plans at the drop of a hat. Work it out." The door clanged shut.  
>Ben caught sight of Alex's face, and for the first time in a long while, he was truly terrified.<p> 


	10. Chapter 10

Alex sat silent for an hour, and Ben knew he was thinking at the speed of light. When he finally did speak, he gestured for the others to come close. He whispered, "I think I've got most of his plan. It's obvious he's watching us, so speak quietly. He's cloning people, to mess with their genetics, I think. If they go overboard with the different genes and the…test subject dies, they have a backup."  
>"What about you?" asked Snake. "I mean, he did change you genetically, do you think he cloned you?"<br>"Probably," sighed Alex. "My clone's most likely in one of the tanks. I think they were in the tanks just for the final touches in growth, like eyelashes and fingernails and stuff. We'd better find Tamara and the other originals. We're rescuing them, now."  
>"That is, if we get out."<br>"We will get out," Alex's eyes flared. "Or die trying."

They almost made it, too. When a guard opened the door to bring food, Alex brought him down with a single kick. They started running back down the hall to the lab. Alex found that his balance was a lot better, he could run faster, he was teeming with energy. His eyes and ears were sharper. He had a thought that made him smile. Bonding him with a cheetah could possibly be the mistake that brought Julius Grief down. A few minutes later, it was obvious that they were being followed. Shouts were coming from behind them and the clattering footsteps were fast approaching. "In here!" gasped Eagle, steering Alex through a door on their left. The others followed in short succession. As Wolf bolted the door, Alex stared around the room. It was like walking into a sci-fi movie. He noted that most of the tanks were empty. The ones with clones in them were filled with the eerie green liquid, quite possibly a nutrient chemical mix. Their faces were lit up by the ghostly green glow.

As Alex examined the tanks, his cat-eyes noticed something none of the others had. "Guys, look at this," he called to the others. A door behind each tank, no lock or doorknob, nearly invisible. Ben said shakily, "You don't think… they're in there?"  
>"Let's find out."<br>Alex walked around the tank in which Tamara's clone was floating, and dug his nails into the crack between the door and the wall. The door opened, and Tamara Knight's pale face stared from within.

"Get away from me." she croaked. "Get away!" she batted at him weakly.  
>"Tamara, it's me. It's Alex," he said reassuringly, putting his hand on her shoulder.<br>"It's not!" she cried shrilly. "This is a trick! You're Grief!"  
>"Tamara, no. Listen to me. You pretended to be Drevin's secretary when we met, remember? You saved my life on the scuba diving wreck. It's me." She stopped resisting and stared.<br>"Alex? It really is you?"  
>"Yes. It's me."<br>Tears were trickling down her face. Then she was hugging him so hard his ribs were fit to snap.  
>"I've been here so long… I thought I was going to die here… then I saw the clone and Grief and everything turned freaky…"<br>"Tamara, come on, we have to free the other prisoners. We'll get you back to America and you'll be fine, OK? Come on."

He helped her out of the cell and handed her to Yassen. "She's traumatized. We'll free the others, and then try to get out of here in groups. It'll be too risky to stay together." He didn't wait to register Yassen's nod. Digging his nails into the next crack, he dragged open another door.


	11. Chapter 11

**This chapter's for TheAwesomeJellyBean who has been reviewing every chapter since chapter 3. (awesome name, by the way) Thanks for all those reviews, TheAwesomeJellyBean! I'm always looking for one from you. **

As the prisoners were freed, they joined the growing group in the middle of the lab. Every one had to be reassured that Alex wasn't Julius. All of them were from various intelligence agencies.

One of the cells was empty, though the tank had a girl about Alex's age floating in it. This made Alex uneasy. He wondered what she was doing in the espionage world. It seemed he wasn't the only teenage spy. The empty cell didn't bother him too much. The original must have been taken away to have her DNA meddled with. He thought no more of it until he noticed the door starting to glow red.

"Guys?" he called uncertainly. "Somebody's messing with the door. We're probably going to have to fight our way out." Wolf swore. He raced over to the door and put his hand near it, not daring to touch. "It's hot," he called back. "Somebody's melting their way through."

He barely had time to jump back before a section of the softening metal fell away and the unmistakable black-jumpsuited Scorpia agents poured in. Julius Grief came up behind them. If possible, he looked even crazier than before. There was a wild glint in his eye and Alex knew he'd gone past the point of no return. He was utterly, sadistically deranged.  
>"Out of the way," he snapped to his minions. They parted as he raced forward, to the tank with the girl floating in it. Julius punched through the glass, leaving cuts all over his fist. The liquid spilled out, and the girl slipped through the jagged opening in the glass and fell to the floor. Her eyes opened – large, intelligent brown eyes, like Alex's.<br>"Alex," announced Julius, with a terrifying grin on his face. "Meet Alexandra. Your clone."

(**I was going to cut it off there**)

"I know, I know, she's a girl," continued Julius. "But let's not be sexist, shall we?"  
>Alexandra was struggling to her feet. She clearly hadn't got the hang of walking. Alex was numb. He had looked her right in the face. How had he not noticed that they looked almost exactly the same? Now her eyes were open, he noticed that they had the gold streaks of the cheetah DNA. A man in a lab coat – clearly some sort of scientist – stepped up beside Julius. Alex realized that it was the lookalike of Cassian James, one of the boys from Point Blanc. Julius's brother. The not-Cassian started to speak. "Julius decided to mess with Alexandra's DNA, just for fun," here he smiled widely. "Julius decided that the genetically altered cheetah twins – one boy, one girl, both Alex Rider – would be very fun to torture. My brother hates you very much, you know," he added to Alex. "We decided to get some amusement out of your death."<p>

Alex's eyes had narrowed. Alexandra was standing there, assessing the situation. She had clearly inherited Alex's instincts. She turned her head a few times, flexing her vocal cords. Then she spoke, haltingly and with many pauses to breathe, but she did speak. "I'm on Alex's side. You're my creator, but Alex is my brother."  
>"You hear that, Alex?" shrilled Julius wildly. "She's on your side already! How many girls you must pick up!"<br>"No," said Alex, tensing. "It's just that you're so blatantly evil."  
>With that, he pounced.<p> 


	12. Chapter 12

Alex jumped at Julius and not-Cassian with a mixture of karate and cheetah strength. Alexandra watched closely and did the same. With the flick of a claw, Alex opened a deep cut down Julius' cheek. Blood exploded outwards. Not-Cassian jumped to his brother's defense, leaving his back wide open. Alexandra chopped at his neck with one hand. The numerous Scorpia operatives opened fire, but K unit, Ben, Yassen and the able-bodied prisoners picked them off one by one. Julius was spinning like a windmill, lashing out wildly. A roundhouse kick to the legs brought him crashing into the puddle of chemical from Alexandra's tank. He screamed in pain. When he pulled himself up, Alex could see his clothes and skin sizzling. The liquid was eating into his flesh. OK. So when the liquid was exposed to air, it became acid. Julius shook off the last drops, spitting and swearing in Afrikaans. Not-Cassian ran towards them, but was swiftly dispatched by Alexandra, who swiped at his spinal cord and ripped out the back of his neck. As he fell dead, Alex kicked the body towards Julius, throwing him to the floor and winding him.  
>Alexandra was screaming, "Alex!" he turned and she tossed him a gun from a dead Scorpia agent. He caught it, spun, and shot Julius neatly between the eyes. Julius was thrown back by the force of the bullet. He landed in the corrosive puddle of liquid and the sound of sizzling flesh filled the room.<p>

Alex turned away from his dead enemy. He cautiously put an arm around Alexandra's shoulders. "Come on, guys. We'd better destroy the building." Without further ado, he stepped through the hole in the door, pausing only to snatch up a cell phone from one of the dead agents.

After a brief debate outside, they decided to leave the clones in the building. Ben started a fire in one of the rooms and they all watched as fire burst through the roof. Alex, using the cell he had picked up off one of the dead, called MI6 and helicopters arrived within the hour. They boarded and the helicopters took off, leaving the main science base of Scorpia burnt to the ground.

**Is it just me or is everything I write just so SHORT? Hope the fight scene was thrilling enough. Who was surprised at the girl-Alex? Anyway, story's going to end maybe in the next 2 chapters, so go to my profile and do the poll for what category my next story's going to be on. It closes on the 25****th**** so DO IT FAST.**


	13. Chapter 13

Alan Blunt was sitting behind his desk when his deputy entered. He didn't even glance up as Mrs. Jones stopped in front of his desk. "What is it, Tulip?"  
>She looked him squarely in the eye. "I want to know how you knew Alex was in Zagreb."<br>"This is top secret, Tulip."  
>"No, it's not. It's personal, and you don't want to tell me."<br>"That is classified."  
>"Don't you 'classified' me! I'm your deputy. I have a <em>right to know<em>." She glared at him. Blunt sighed inwardly.  
>"Tulip, you do know Zeljan Kurst is the head of Scorpia?"<br>"Yes."  
>"Over forty years ago, we were both at the same school. In fact, he was my friend, before he turned bad. I learned his style."<br>"That was all I needed to know." She turned to leave.  
>"Oh, and Tulip?"<br>She looked back.  
>"Phone the Rider house and tell both to come here. They need to be debriefed."<p>

Alex, meanwhile, was showing Alexandra the different channels on the TV. Having been born in a test tube, she hadn't seen much of normal life.  
>"So this one's cartoons, this one's news –"<br>The phone rang.  
>"I'll get it," Jack said. "Go on with the TV." Jack and Tom had both been worried sick at the 'terrorist attack' on Brookland. Both of them had known immediately that it had been Scorpia.<br>"And this is a game show –"  
>"Alex?"<br>"Hmm?" they both turned round.  
>"It's Jones. She wants both of you at the Royal and General right away."<br>"Are they sending a vehicle?"  
>"With you, they probably know better than that."<br>"Good. I hate those cars. Come on, 'Xandra, I'll show you the tube."

As they stood next to each other on the tube train, Alex showed Alexandra the maps and how to get to Liverpool Station. "How do you memorize these things, Alex?" sighed Alexandra as they stepped off. "It looks so complicated."  
>"It's not really," said Alex. "You don't have to memorize them. The maps are there whenever you need them. I've had fourteen years to work it out, and I still need the maps most of the time. See, in there, that's the Royal and General bank. We go in there."<br>Mrs. Jones was waiting in the lobby.  
>"Come this way." She steered Alexandra into the elevator, Alex following. When they arrived on the fifteenth floor, Alex took Alexandra's hand and led her to Blunt's office. Mrs. Jones knocked, and without waiting for an answer pushed open the door.<p>

There were two chairs in front of the desk instead of the customary one. Both Riders sat down and Blunt got his first proper look at the girl. The lashes were longer than Alex's, the eyebrows narrower, lips fuller, hair longer. Otherwise, she looked just like her brother.

"This wasn't officially a mission," he began, "but under the circumstances, we had to see the clone –"  
>"Alexandra," Alex cut in. "Her name is Alexandra."<br>"Alexandra. And we had to see what the cheetah DNA did to you."  
>Alex showed him his nails.<br>"There. Done. Can we go now?"  
>"Those aren't the only reasons why we brought you here, Alex," said Mrs. Jones. "We need…Alexandra… to sign the Official Secrets Act."<br>"And then you're going to send us both off next time you need a teenager for a mission," said Alex wearily. "That's Alexandra's decision. You have me – you won't have her unless she wants to."  
>"Alex," said Alexandra quietly. "If they have you, they have me too. We're clones – I <em>am<em> you. And even if we weren't, you're still my brother. You won't be going on any more missions without me."  
>"Then that settles it," said Blunt briskly. "Alex, Smithers would like to see you."<br>Both teenagers stood up and exited. At the door, Alex looked back. Blunt's head was bent over a file. The Alex Riders had been forgotten.

Smithers was ecstatic. "Alex, m'boy!" he boomed, pumping his hand. "So good to see you! This was probably the most dangerous week of your life, and it wasn't even a mission! And you!" he turned to Alexandra. "Wonderful to meet you, though I kind of already have, haven't I?" He indicated Alex. "Did the gadgets work?"  
>"They were great. The indestructible present ribbon was very effective," said Alex, making a mental note to keep a roll on his person whenever Eagle and sugar were in the same house.<br>A slip of paper came through a slot on Smithers' desk with a quiet 'ding.' He snatched it up and read through it quickly. "I've got another gadget to make, Alex and Alexandra. Blunt's requesting camouflaged weapons for an archeological trip."  
>"We'll leave you to it, Mr. Smithers. Bye."<br>"So long, kids!"  
>They left. Once outside the door, Alexandra asked, "Is he always like that? So cheerful, I mean."<br>"Most of the time. You know, he rigged his own house so if intruders came they'd be hit with exploding garden gnomes?"  
>"Really?"<br>"Yep. Come on, sis. Let's get home."

When they got back, Tom was sitting on the sofa. "Hey, 'Lex! Just got back from the bank? Hey, your sister's cute!"  
>"<em>Tom<em>!"  
>"What, she is!" said Tom defensively. Alexandra looked on, bemused.<br>"She's my clone! She's practically me!"  
>This shut Tom up.<br>Alex opened the kitchen door and found another horrific sight. Snake and Jack kissing.  
>He closed the door quickly. "Tom," he said, turning around. "Would K unit happen to be in the house?"<br>"Yeah, why?"  
>"Why didn't you tell me?"<br>"What's the problem?"  
>Alex pointed to the kitchen door. "Look for yourself. Actually, don't, I don't want you barfing on the carpet." Alexandra looked, turned around and said, "What's the problem?"<br>"We're boys!" shrieked Alex, waving his arms like a windmill. "This is girl stuff!" He face-planted into the couch.  
>And to think it had started with Christmas!<p>

**Finally done! What did you think of the end? Should I do a sequel? This last chapter was the hardest, no doubt about that! Right now its about 11:30 AM, Hong Kong time. That's cuz I'm in Hong Kong. When I got up this morning, I had twenty reviews total! I'd gone from 10 to 20 in one night! Yay me! This chapter is dedicated to everyone who reviewed.  
>Hope you liked my first story! <strong>

**~Silver**


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